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  • For Better or Worse | Posted by Mart De Haan on Mar 03 2010

    Imagine leaving home, never to return, without knowing where we are going… except that our destination has been promised to be “far better”…
    In some ways that’s what Abraham and Sara did. God asked them to leave an ancient home in modern Iraq– without telling them for where (Gen 12:1; Hebrews 11:8).
    Is it different for us? [...]

  • The Misused Name | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jan 26 2010

    One way to break down someone’s faith may be to quote Jesus’ promise that… the Father in heaven will give us any thing we ask in Jesus name (John 16:23).
    Many of us have discovered the hard way that ending our prayers “in the name of Jesus” doesn’t necessarily make a difference in whether we get [...]

  • Taking Inventory and Steps | Posted by Mart De Haan on Dec 05 2009

    Over the months I’ve talked every once in a while about how 12 Step thinking and process echoes basics of true spirituality.
    Even after the specific language of the Bible has been removed to make the Steps “accessible” to those who come with an aversion to the “religion” of their past, real wisdom remains.
    Step 4 of [...]

  • What We Can or Cannot Do | Posted by Mart De Haan on Dec 01 2009

    Can we count on God to give us the ability to do anything we “believe him for”?
    The Apostle Paul wrote that he had learned how to do all things through Christ who strengthened him (Philip 4:13).
    But why then, on another occasion did he write, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what [...]

  • In Hope of Changing Seasons | Posted by Mart De Haan on Oct 25 2009

    It was raining and 43 degrees yesterday when I stopped to look up into this tree.
    Its trunk and branches are strong. Yet by its appearance, it is joining the rest of us in acknowledging that we have no power to resist the seasons of life.
    Solomon, struggled for a while to make sense of a [...]

  • Praying Like a Broken Record | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jul 06 2009

    Looking back, it seems that life is full of answered and unanswered prayers.
    It’s clear that, as a wise Father who for our good thinks in ways far beyond our ability, our God has every right and responsibility to say “Yes,” “No,” or “Not Yet.”
    But how, as we live with unanswered requests, can we express our [...]

  • Why we Worry! | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jun 23 2009

    Why do you worry? Jesus asked his disciples that question while repeatedly encouraging them not to be consumed by the kind of everyday concerns that bother those who don’t know him and his father.
    But was the Teacher asking us to detach ourselves from the real concerns of life?… when he said,
    ” Therefore I say to [...]

  • What’s Happening Here? | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 21 2009

    Oh no. I remember my sense of alarm when I heard someone talk about the New Testament discrepancy between two different accounts of Jesus feeding thousands with a few pieces of bread and fish.
    Then I discovered something else. Both accounts were described in the Gospel of Matthew  in two consecutive chapters, with a summary to [...]

  • Talk Radio | Posted by Mart De Haan on Mar 09 2009

    Whether the issue is stem cell research, health care, or the economy, my hunch is that more than a few of us are getting our own talking points by listening to those who make a living attacking rather than listening to, or trying to find common ground with, their political opponents.
    Is it possible that even [...]

  • The Variety of Nature and Spirituality | Posted by Mart De Haan on Feb 12 2009

    Maybe the variety of nature can help us laugh at ourselves, and grow in our appreciation for one another… while still taking life seriously.
    Scientists estimate that the number of species on earth ranges somewhere between 5 and 30 million, with about 8 million different kinds of bugs.
    Could there be a parallel between what our [...]

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